Non OEM cartridges/inks for Epson R230

[rodbam]

A bloke in my camera club has a Epson R230 which he says produces good prints but he is getting his prints done by a photo lab because of the costs of the ink. He has tried some unknown cheap cartridges & his prints are fading even behind glass. I told him all about refilling with quality inks but he's a bit worried worried about filling his own & would like to purchase some quality refilled cartridges. I've had a look on the net & found some cartridges filled with OCP ink down here in Oz but they cost $9 each, a saving of about 50% over OEM but this sounds expensive compared to refilling. I thought I would offer to refill his cartridges for him & when he sees how easy it is he might want to do this for himself.
I've had a look at Precision Colors & they don't list any inks for the R230 (obviously it's an old model) Does anyone know where I can buy a couple of sets of refillable cartridges & a set of quality inks?
I've tried the search function & found nothing to help me there.

 

[irvweiner]

Rod, once again check out Ross Hardie's place: http://store.inkjetcarts.us/epson-starterkit-r210-r230-r310-r350-rx510-rx630-rx650--ink-p4393.aspx

He show a set of carts + inks that should solve your friends problem.

Also shown are various inks that can be used: http://store.inkjetcarts.us/r230-c594.aspx

I don't know if they are microwavable!!


good luck irv weiner

 

[rodbam]

Thanks Irv, That's exactly what I was looking for & I will now find out if the bloke wants to refill or just buy refilled at a much higher cost.
I emailed Ross Hardie about the benefits of microwaving his cartridges & have just got this reply from him..................

Hi Rod
Regarding your question about microwaving our cartridges & it seems you have been talking to Irv Weiner, I've had a few people asking me about this after they have been talking to him so I ran some tests after getting all the information via email from Irv. The first batch I tried exploded as soon as I took the cartridges out of the microwave, this is why in my instructional videos you can see ink all over my hands & office. What Irv failed to mention was the roast beef setting was only for OEM cartridges, for compatible cartridges like mine you have to set the microwave to the rice pudding setting.
I will now put this a warning on all my labels to prevent this disaster occurring again.
The improvements of the printouts after microwaving is very impressive with all the prints looking as though they have been printed on the best metallic papers. I will be buying 10 microwaves for testing & I will post post videos on how to set these up for different cartridges, so stay tuned.
Regards
Ross Hardie.
So it looks like I can't go wrong with his refill ink set Irv, thanks for the link

 

[irvweiner]

I knew Ross wouldn't disappoint you!

Now, let's get back to the microwaves. My original diatribes (white or colored papers) referred to the microwaving only of dye inks that had been frozen or stored in a frig. The goal was only to warm up the ink quickly before an urgent refill-because the printer guy had no backup refill. I tried being more cautious about the pigment inks because I was not certain that the reduced Brownian movement of the colloidal pigments would hasten or decrease the pigment particle clumping. In addition, many of the pigment particles are metallic salts which could adversely affect the microwave itself.
It is most interesting that none the major printer/ink mfgrs ever gave a peep to any if these discussions I inflicted on the community. I can understand their lack of concern if they knew/felt that my brilliant suggestions would damage their printers thus increasing their replacement sales or increase their income due to their very modest repair charges! On the other hand, if my chilling suggestions are correct, I can appreciate their silence since the extended life support of their low cost inks would be increased reducing their replacement sales of 'old, tired' inks.

Now, Ross Hardie should have realized that microwaving carts should only be done when the carts were stored in the freezer and the ink was frozen, the 'defrost' setting is the one to use for all carts. Plus each cart should be in a separate ziplock bag, this permits easy recovery of the ink if the cart explodes. Remember: "Waste not, want not"!!

Secondly, I believe in his upcoming 'new' video for the 3880 and plain paper print with his pigment ink a new feature will added: After wringing out the water from the submersed print demonstrating the pigment retention, the print then tacked onto a sheet of hvywt matte and microwaved till dry. This guarantees no wrinkling forever and a day (or 2)--the process does diminish the glow-in-the-dark properties. So, you may have to add some optical brighteners to the wash water.!

Rod, a pleasure to be of assistance, now back to my dehydrated ink. irv weiner